Linguistic Relativity: Evidence Across Languages and Cognitive Domains (Applications of Cognitive Linguistics [acl], 25)

The claim that crosslinguistic disparities foster differences in nonlinguistic thought, often referred to as 'linguistic relativity', has for some time been the subject of intense debate. For much of that time the debate was not informed by much experimental work. Recently, however, there has been an explosion of research on linguistic relativity, carried out by numerous scholars interested in the interaction between language and nonlinguistic cognition. This book surveys the rapidly accruing research on this topic, much of it carried out in the last decade. Structured so as to be accessible to students and scholars in linguistics, psychology, and anthropology, it first introduces crucial concepts in the study of language and cognition. It then explores the relevant experimentally oriented research, focusing independently on the evidence for relativistic effects in spatial orientation, temporal perception, number recognition, color discrimination, object/substance categorization, gender construal, as well as other facets of cognition. This is the only book to extensively survey the recent work on linguistic relativity, and should serve as a critical resource for those concerned with the topic. Acknowledgements 1 Contextualizing the issues 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Intuitions regarding linguistic relativity 1.3 A brief history of the linguistic relativity hypothesis 1.4 Motivations for criticisms of the hypothesis 1.5 Issues with some prominent criticisms 1.6 Types of linguistic relativity 1.7 The structure of this book 2 Acknowledging diversity 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Cognitive diversity across human populations 2.3 Linguistic diversity across human populations 2.4 Conclusion 3 Refining methodology 3.1 Methodological issues to be addressed 3.2 Conclusion 4 Space 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Spatial topology 4.3 Frames of reference 4.3.1 Experimental evidence 4.3.2 Some objections and other considerations 4.4 Dead reckoning 4.5 Discussion and conclusion 5 Time 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Spatial metaphors and temporal conceptualization 5.3 Crosslinguistic studies on temporal perception 5.4 Discussion and conclusion 6 Quantities 6.1 Introduction 6.2 The case of nearly anumeric language 6.3 The case of anumeric language 6.4 Other kinds of effects 6.5 Discussion and conclusion 7 Color 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Color categories across languages 7.3 Evidence for disparate discrimination of color categories 7.3.1 Categorical perception effects 7.3.2 Hemisphere-variant categorical perception effects 7.4 Discussion and conclusion 8 Objects and substances 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Initial findings among the Yucatec Maya 8.3 Work with speakers of other languages 8.4 Discussion and conclusion 9 Gender 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Construal of non-human entities 9.3 Construal of human referents 9.4 Discussion and conclusion 10 Other kinds of effects 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Recalling accidents 10.3 Emotion 10.4 Counterfactual reasoning 10.5 Action construal 10.6 Other explorable topics 11 Conclusion 11.1 What this survey has demonstrated, and what it has not 11.2 The reality of linguistic relativity References Index This Book Introduces The Reader To The Current Findings On Linguistic Relativity, And In So Doing Helps To Answer One Of The Most Vexing Questions In The Cognitive And Social Sciences: Does The Language You Speak Affect How You Think? Caleb Everett. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 276-294) And Index.